How to make particles on specific vertices of a model
You can use vertex groups for that.
Setting up the vertex group
Select your mesh and go to the mesh tab. Under Vertex Groups, click the + button to create a vertex group:

In edit mode, select the vertices you want to emit the particles from:

To edit the vertex group, switch to weight paint with the object selected:

Then limit the editing to the previously selected vertices by clicking on the Vertex Selection button:

Select Weights&gt;Set Weight to set the weight of the selected vertices to one.
Using It In The Particle System
In your particle system, under Source, select Vertices:

To make it use the vertex group, go to Vertex Groups and change the Density group: